Shandong’s Qiu Shan Valley perfect for French wine

Domaine de Long Dai, nestled in the heart of the Qiu Shan Valley in Yantai in Shandong province in northeastern China is now open for visits after around 10 years of preparation, and its inaugural Long Dai 2017 wine has become popular since its release last September.

Domaine de Long Dai belongs to the wine group Domaines Barons de Rothschild, also known as Lafite. Jean-Guillaume Prats, the CEO of Lafite, said that it took a decade of learning to take care of the Qiu Shan terrain, and the region is highly dependent on agriculture which, combined with the granitic soil, makes it a place of interest to grow vines.

The vines, planted in 2011 on terraces built in the granite soils from the foothills of the Qiu Shan Valley, benefit from Shandong’s beautiful late season growth of grapes that can be harvested at full maturity, by hand, through successive pickings.

The Long Dai collection is made according to the traditional Bordeaux method and bottled at the estate.

According to Liang Chen, cellar manager of Domaine Long Dai, 2018 was a good year for the harvest of grapes and he was looking forward to the taste of Long Dai 2018.

The Long Dai 2018 is stored in French oak barrels and will be released this year.